Page 41 of Night Hawk
The brightness in his eyes suddenly washed away. “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.”
“Nothing is certain.” She’d learned the hard way that life was lived minute by minute. But one thing she did know for certain. She wouldn’t let herself become distracted like she had with her father and risk the life of this very fine man.
10
Clay sat next to Toni at the big dining room table where his family had gathered for so many years. They each had their laptops open in front of them. She’d already confirmed Jason’s Facebook page had been taken down, killing that lead right off the bat. They continued their search for information on Jason and Rader, but Clay’s disappointment in Toni’s rejection was taking his attention. Big time.
Not that there was any point in thinking about his pain. He couldn’t change her mind. Only she could do that. Besides, he was still smarting from the way the last woman he’d gotten involved with had betrayed him with another man. Yeah, sure, he hadn’t been madly in love with Grace or anything, but betrayal by anyone still stung. Toni didn’t seem like she would have a straying eye like Grace had, but Toni could give in to her growing feelings for him only to realize she couldn’t be in a relationship and break things off. That was betrayal at its deepest sense, as there would be no other party he could get angry with or try to blame.
Sure, he’d just said he shouldn’t be angry. Shouldn’t blame. But the other thing his counselor had said was that he had to go through these natural stages, and he couldn’t hurry the process. When the time was right, most people recognized when to move on. And the other thing he knew—he could talk about moving on. Talk about not feeling disappointed, not letting hurt get to him, but God also gave people feelings. Sometimes they took over until you could process, and no matter what you knew in your brain, your heart didn’t go along with it.
He heard a key slide into the front door lock, and he spun, going for his sidearm.
Toni looked at her watch. “Probably your brothers, right?”
“You can never be too careful.”
She rested her hand on her gun, but the minute the door opened and his brothers’ voices traveled into the room—they were calling dibs on the bedrooms—she lifted it back to her computer.
Drake entered first, his face hidden behind three boxes. “Where do you want these?”
“In the corner.” Clay said. “It’ll be easier to review the files here.”
“Good thing Mom isn’t here. She wouldn’t be thrilled to have boxes all over the dining room.” He dropped them with a thud, and Clay’s other brothers trailed in behind him and unloaded another stack.
Erik was last, holding four boxes. “Out of my way. I can’t see a thing.”
“Because you were the doofus who had to carry the most boxes.” Drake rolled his eyes.
Pong cautiously entered the room and looked to Erik for direction.
“Hi, Pong.” Toni looked at the dog with longing. She really did want a dog. Whoever she married, if she ever did, would have to love dogs. “Can I pet him again?”
“Sure.” Erik looked at Pong. “You can go.”
He trotted across the room and sat at her feet.
She leaned in to pet him. “You are the best mannered guy I have ever met.”
“Hey,” Clay protested. “You just haven’t spent enough time with me yet.”
“That’s right, bro, your manners are so well hidden it’ll take her a lifetime to find them.” Drake grabbed Clay by the elbow. “C’mon. There’s more where these came from, and you’re not getting away without carrying your share.”
Clay groaned, but he didn’t mean it. He was messing with Drake as his brother had been messing with him.
“I’ll help.” Toni started to rise.
“Nah.” Drake waved a hand. “We got this. You keep the pooch happy while we go.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yep.” He smiled at her, a rare occurrence for sure, telling Clay his brother liked her. Not in a romantic way. At least Clay hoped not that way, or Clay was the one who’d have to call dibs.
Outside, Erik caught his attention. “I’ve been doing some searching on the drive over. Want a report on what I found?”
“We can hold an update meeting right after you guys get settled.”
“This needs to be in private.”
